Chilton Capital Management LLC Purchases 159 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 11.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,550 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 159 shares during the quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 119.6% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 126.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $252.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $222.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.25. The company has a market cap of $147.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $131.87 and a 12-month high of $254.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $850,689.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,247.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total value of $135,271.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $828,485.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $850,689.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,247.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,984 shares of company stock valued at $22,564,766 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on Progressive from $296.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $281.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.18.

Progressive Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.